Experts testifying at the National Nutrition Policy study hearings on June 19-21, 1974 in Washington, at the invitation of the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, recommended several steps which the committee staff feel merit a prompt Congressional response. This report prepared by staff incorporates those recommendations, focusing on the need for: (1) creation of a Federal Food and Nutrition Office; (2) formalizing nutrition policy making into a written National Nutrition Plan; and (3) implementation of a better system of National Nutrition Surveillance. Members of the Nutrition Committee submitted legislation for improved nutrition education during the ninety-third Congress, and those recommendations are therefore only treated briefly in this report. A comprehensive National Nutrition Policy is necessary to coordinate and monitor the varied nutrition-related programs and activities now dispersed throughout the government. The present global food situation threatens millions overseas with starvation and requires immediate concerted action. The present lack of policy coordination derives from the multidimensional character of nutrition. Agricultural policy, tax policy, and even foreign policy all have nutritional implications. The flow of information to decision makers in a form they can use must be coordinated. (Author/JM)

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